Pokhara, June 22: The Rolbaraha and Simriklek community forests based in Rangbhang Bhainsegaunda of Putalibazar Municipality-2, Syangja, have been declared protected zones for owls, with a ban on the use of catapult.
The initiative aims to conserve owls and other wildlife, according to conservationist Bal Kumar Gurung. He added that seven species of owls have been recorded in the area. Additionally, 113 old trees found within the forest are now under protection.
Renowned conservationist and Director of Friends of Nature, Raju Acharya, has already announced to contribute the 50,000 Euro prize money he received from the Whitley Award that was granted for owl conservation efforts toward bird conservation projects proposed by the Gandaki Province government.
As part of the government’s 10-year Owl Conservation Plan, the funds will be used to control slingshot use, conserve old-growth trees, install artificial nests, and prevent poaching of these predatory birds.
Gurung, who is also the chairman of the Bhaisegaunda Community Homestay, emphasized the ecological and tourism significance of this forest, which lies roughly at the midpoint of the 72-kilometer Millennium Trek route connecting Dulegaunda in Tanahun to Rambachha in Syangja.
Due to the delay in Nepal signing the agreement, it was reported that many security guards and other domestic workers who went to the Gulf countries have been deprived of minimum wages and have had to suffer from numerous hardships and troubles.
The organization, which has been raising issues related to youth concerns and domestic workers, has consulted and sought opinions from members of the Industry, Commerce, and Labour and Consumer Committee under the House of Representatives, as well as labour experts from the Bagmati Province.
Although Nepal is a party to the said agreement, due to the lack of laws enacted regarding this matter and the non-approval of the convention, domestic workers, or workers in the informal sector, have been deprived of the minimum services and facilities they should be entitled to.
Committee member Kantika Sejuwal expressed the opinion that even though there are three tiers of government in the country, there is no effective mechanism to address the rights of domestic workers and to maintain statistics.
On that occasion, representatives of domestic workers and active organizations in the trade union sector stated that if the agreement is signed, women workers as domestic workers will have the opportunity to confidently use Nepal’s airports instead of hiding.
They suggested that workers going for such foreign employment should be provided with knowledge about subject-specific skills, language, the culture of the place, the use of the latest technologies, and information about the laws.
MP Sapana Rajbhandari and Sita Mijar expressed the opinion that it is necessary to put pressure on the government to hold family reunification for domestic workers and to create a people-friendly law for making the government accountable.
Previously, Bijaya Rai Shrestha, a representative of the Migrant Women Workers Group (MWWG), stated that due to the lack of approval for the convention, workers in informal sectors both abroad and in the country have been deprived of the minimum wages set by the government.
The chairman of the organizing body Yuwalaya, Dharmaraj Rimala, emphasized the need for a unified effort to ratify the agreement. #owl #nepal #migration
